Ideas with succulents

Damaged terracotta pots can be much more than they're cracked up to be. With a little ingenuity, you can create a feature for your garden that will grow around the pieces. If you don’t have any broken pots lying about and love the look, get smashing! Or you can put together our other clever ideas – just place your creation in full sun and water occasionally.

It’s good to start with a pot that has its bottom intact, but you could stick bigger pieces back together using epoxy glue if the pot is in a real state.

Gather your supplies

• Broken terracotta pot (here, 25cm dia.) and smaller shards

• Small (8-10cm dia.) terracotta pot

• Cactus and succulent potting mix

• Selection of succulents, such as sempervivums, echeverias and sedums

• Wood or bamboo skewers

• Small decorative pebbles

Note Every broken pot will be different, but to start from scratch, soak pot in water overnight, then clamp two small pieces of wood inside and out and lever to break a piece off. (Or just bash it and see what happens!) If you go too far, when dry, use epoxy glue to undo your handiwork.

Gather your supplies

Step 1 Press potting mix into base of main pot to just below the broken edge at front.